Essentially, the problem addressed in the thesis is the further development of the theory and methodology of describing and analysing eponymy. The author’s approach focuses on semantic aspects of eponymy as related to all main components of the eponymic derivational relationship: the underlying proper name, the derived eponym, and the relation between them.
Further research in the theoretical and methodological framework of eponymy studies is necessitated by both the significant role eponyms play in contemporary society and the need to more fully take into account all of their relevant features and properties, particularly those that are related to their meaning, the meaning of underlying items, and the relation thereof.
In Ukraine, eponymy as well as eponyms have been studied by M.M. Dzyuba, S.S. Yermolenko, O.P. Kovalchuk and others. Eponymic terms of individual branches of knowledge have been studied by Ukrainian scholars L.V. Stegnitska, H.P. Khyrivska, I.E. Tomka, R.B. Mykulchyk, L.M. Konoplianyk, L.F. Vdovychenko, R.Ya. Dmytrasevych and others.
Abroad, eponyms and processes of their formation have been researched by J.-C. Boulanger, J. Whitworth, A. Woywodt, E. Garfield, G. Cabanac, M. Cormier, G. Lebouc, E. Matteson, G. Stern, M. Freeman, W. Schweikart, and others.
The topicality of the thesis’s theme topic is determined by the fact that eponymy has so far been insufficiently given attention in language theory studies, while deonomastic nomination operates as an increasingly productive means of coining new words and phrases, particularly through the turning of commercial names into appellative ones, such as xerox, sneakers, kleenex, etc. Although the generification of a popular trademark name can possibly make it still more popular, such a transition may be caused, among other things, by the appearance of competing goods that use a prestigious name, thereby violating intellectual property rights. Thus, in addition to purely scientific relevance, general theoretical research of deonomastic nomination can also have purely practical, utilitarian significance.
The research framework (instrument, methods, and procedures) applied in the dissertation was as follows. At the initial stage, four lexicographic data sources were selected: Etymological Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language in 7 volumes, edited by O.S. Melnychuk, Dictionary of Foreign Words edited by O.S. Melnychuk, Origins: a short etymological dictionary of the Modern English language by E. Partridge, and an Etymological dictionary of the French language by A. Dauzat. In them, Ukrainian, English, and French deonomastic lexemes were identified by the use of continuous sampling; etymological information in Oxford English Dictionary entries as well as in some other sources, too, served as an additional source of relevant material. Other dictionaries, particularly electronic ones, were occasionally used to provide more detailed information on particular lexemes. The resulting card index has 2344 items.
These lexemes were then analysed by the use of the following parameters: the parameter related to underlying proper names, the parameter related to derived eponyms, and the parameter related to the motivational relationship between the underlying proper name and the derived eponym.
According to the research model used in the thesis, the parameter concerned with underlying items was specified with respect to their ideographic classification. Also, relevant in this regard was specifying their source language.
The parameter concerned with the motivational relation between the underlying proper name and the derived eponym was specified, first of all, by the use of the categories of metaphor and metonymy, further detailed with respect to the latter’ subtypes. The category of commemorative motivation was also used, as well as the mixed type one.
The parameter related to the semantics of the derived eponymic unit was analysed according to the latter’s lexical-thematic and part-of-speech reference, degree of derivation, its status in the language system (i. e. its belonging to the general, dialect, or archaic vocabulary, scientific and technical terminology, etc.) and, accordingly, its usage activity, and its genetic non-/uniqueness (i.e. having or otherwise of correlates or cognates in the analysed languages) as well as its international character. Possible system-internal semantic connections (synonymy, antonymy, homonymy) were taken into account, too.
The joint application of these parameters within the unified research framework has enabled us to develop an integrated multidimensional parametric model for the description and analysis of the phenomenon of eponymy with particular attention to its semantic aspects both in individual languages and in the case of cross-linguistic comparison.
The research results have been presented in the dissertation as well as the author’s papers.
